1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to discussion groups and other Web sites that accumulate opinions, and more specifically to a system, method and program for limiting the potential liability of a Web site owner accumulating opinions by posting only the links to the opinions wherein the content of each opinion remains at the opinion writer""s Web site.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computational devices continue to proliferate throughout the world, there also continues to be an increase in the use of networks connecting these devices. Computational devices include large mainframe computers, workstations, personal computers, laptops and other portable devices including wireless telephones, personal digital assistants, automobile-based computers, etc. Such portable computational devices are also referred to as xe2x80x9cpervasivexe2x80x9d devices. The term xe2x80x9ccomputerxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomputational devicexe2x80x9d, as used herein, may refer to any of such device which contains a processor and some type of memory. The networks connecting computational devices may be xe2x80x9cwiredxe2x80x9d networks, formed using lines such as copper wire or fiber optic cable, wireless networks employing earth and/or satellite-based wireless transmission links, or combinations of wired and wireless network portions. Many such networks may be organized using a client/server architecture, in which xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d computational devices manage resources, such as files, peripheral devices, or processing power, which may be requested by xe2x80x9cclientxe2x80x9d computational devices. xe2x80x9cProxy serversxe2x80x9d can act on behalf of other machines, such as either clients or servers.
A widely used network is the Internet. The Internet, initially referred to as a collection of xe2x80x9cinterconnected networksxe2x80x9d, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite or protocols.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, referred to herein as xe2x80x9cthe Webxe2x80x9d. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transfer using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.).
Web sites that are oriented towards collecting opinions are proliferating. Such sites include discussion groups, bulletin boards, and other Web sites that collect opinions. For example, the Web site xe2x80x9ceopinions.comxe2x80x9d collects opinions on products. In the past, Usenet groups were well known for free expression of opinions.
Currently, there have been several defamation lawsuits based on Web site content. Some cases have involved a teacher suing a student for defamation. It should be noted that in the prior art opinion oriented Web sites, an opinion writer may be unable to remove the opinion from the Web site since the Web site is controlled by the publisher of the site and not the writer of the opinion. Because of the control a publisher has over the Web site, some suits have also included the publisher of the Web site which published the comments. As such, the student as well as the content aggregator may be sued.
There is little disagreement on the fact that the writer can be sued for writing defamatory remarks. The question will continue to be litigated on the extent of liability of the Web site publisher. For example, should a Web publisher be held liable in a similar fashion as holding the typical print newspapers or book publishers liable when they publish defamatory remarks from others? If so, then it will be difficult to have controversial opinions oriented Web sites that solicit comments on products, or other subject matter, and allow them to be published with no reviews. This would essentially be similar to operating like an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup.
It would therefore be desirable to reduce the legal liability of a Web publisher who aggregates, in a Web site, opinions of individuals located worldwide.
It is therefore an object of the invention to minimize, if not eliminate, any potential liability of a Web publisher that accumulates opinions from others in the publisher""s Web site.
It is a further object of the invention to isolate the content of opinions from the actual opinions oriented Web site of a Web publisher.
The system, method, and program of the invention enables a publisher""s opinions oriented Web site to contain hyperlinks to the actual content of each opinion at the Web sites of each opinion writer. In this way, the Web site of the publisher does not contain any of the actual content of any of the opinions. It merely contains hyperlinks to the various opinions. The content of each opinion resides solely at the opinion writer""s Web site. Likewise, any liability for the content should rest solely on the writer.
In one embodiment which more greatly ensures that the publisher""s liability is minimized since no content is visually associated with the publisher""s Web site, the opinion oriented Web site merely contains the hyperlink to the writer""s opinion at another Web site that is not associated with, i.e., independent of, the publisher""s Web site. In another embodiment, which enhances a user""s ease of use of the opinion oriented Web site, the opinions oriented Web site contains a framed hyperlink to the writer""s Web site. As such, in one frame of the user""s browser, the browser displays a view of the publisher""s Web site with selectable hyperlinks. In another frame of the user""s browser, the content of a selected hyperlink from the other frame is displayed. Although the content physically resides at a location independent of, or separate from, the publisher""s Web site, the appearance on the user""s displayed browser indicates a visual association between the publisher""s Web site and the content of the writer""s opinion.
When an individual wishes to add an opinion to a Web site discussion group or other opinion oriented Web site, the individual provides the address, e.g., the URL, of a Web page at the individual""s Web site where the individual has written the opinion. The opinion writer provides the URL instead of providing the content of the opinion.
Consequently, the liability of the publisher of the opinion oriented Web site should be minimized, if not eliminated, since the content physically resides on the computer of the person expressing the opinion, and not on the computer of the publisher of the opinion oriented Web site.
Each party involved realizes advantages with respect to the present invention. The opinion writer receives the advantage of having more visits to the writer""s Web site. The opinion writer can also more easily remove or change the defamatory remarks in the opinion. This is especially helpful if the opinion writer fears a defamation lawsuit by the person being defamed. The publisher has the advantage of minimizing any liability in association with the writer""s opinion by just pointing to the opinion at the writer""s Web site instead of actually republishing it. The entity being defamed by an opinion realizes an advantage in that the entity knows whom to contact under such circumstances.